By / brian scott
On January 29th, 2008 fans of the Red Deer Rebels were treated to an intermission demonstration unlike anything most of them had ever seen before. In place of the KFC tots intermission game (will find real program name) the Rebels partnered with Hockey Alberta to present the first ever Sledge Hockey demonstration on Centrium Ice. Performing an inter squad game was reigning Western Canada Sledge Hockey Tournament champs the Red Deer Rage, giving fans a first hand look at the paralympic version of ice hockey. To the uninitiated the demonstration proved both entertaining and educational, as fans were given a crash course in the sport. Sledge hockey gets its name from the adaptive equipment used by its players. Seated in sleds or sledges, which sit atop modified skate blades, players propel themselves around the ice surface using a pair of modified hockey sticks with picks affixed to the but ends. The players use a stick in each hand for manoeuvring as well as stick handling, passing and shooting. Despite using only one hand at a time to shoot the puck, players at the national level can shoot the puck as fast as many NHL players, at speeds in excess of 90 miles per hour. Although at the national level the sport falls under paralympic guidelines for athlete mobility, at the provincial and local levels sledge hockey is open to all participants regardless of physical status. Many members of the Red Deer Rage possess no physical impairment, and play the sport for the same reasons as many people play recreational hockey, physical fitness and team camaraderie. This also allows friends and family of athletes with a disability to participate alongside those that require adaptive measures to participate in sport. While many Sledge players have no mobility impairments, all sledge athletes face challenges in using facilities designed for able bodied hockey. Due to the nature of the equipment, most arena players’ benches are unusable as there is a large step up into the bench area. Players can also not watch the game from within the benches. For this reason all players remain on the ice surface at all times, with those not currently “on” seated along the boards. Hockey Alberta encourages all facilities to take this into consideration when upgrading or designing new facilities and has information available to outline the adaptations needed for sledge hockey. The Red Deer Rage demonstration may be viewed on the Red Deer Rebels website as part of RTV News (www.reddeerrebels.com), entitled episode 24 – sledge hockey demonstration. For more information on the Red Deer Rage please contact the Central Alberta Sledge Hockey Association at
[email protected]. To obtain information from Sledge Hockey Alberta please contact Brian Scott at Hockey Alberta.
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